US1153318A - Air-brake coupling. - Google Patents

Description

O. F. KIWPATRICK.

AIR BRAKE COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 13. m5.

1,, 1 535 31 i Patented Sept. H, 1915.

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Specification or tettere, Eatcnt.

Patented dept. lid, lltuld.

Implication filed January 13, 15913 Serial Ill 0. 2,057;

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, Oasou. F. KEE- rarmcrr, a citizen of the United States, rei siding at North English, in the county of p Iowa and State of Iowa, have invented certill tain new and useful 1m rovements in Air- Brake Couplings; and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in' the art to which 1t appertains to make anduse the same.

This invention relates to air-brakes used on railway trains, more especially freight trains, and the object of the invention is to provide means for automatically coupling the air-pipes with which such air-brakes are su plied. I

the invention. is fully disclosed in the description and claims following, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1!. is a side view, partly in section, illustrating my inventionas in use. Fig. 2 is a mid-sectional plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an end view illustrating the mountlog or cage for the couplingbar, shown 1D section.

Referring to the drawing, 1 denotes the under frame of a car, below which is mounted in the usual way the regular car-coupling 2, suitably supported as by a yoke 3. D1- rectly beneath the ear-coupling is mounted the air-coupling, which is the siibject of this invention.

The coupling comprises a pair of engaging heads or coupling-bars, of which one is supposed to be attached to the car at each end. The main body of the bar is tubular, and on its reduced rear end portion 4 is mounted a spring 5 compressible between the shoulder 6 and the abutment 7. An

angular plate 8 at the rear end prevents the bar from turning and limits its forward movement. The main body of the bar 9 is mounted in a cage which may be suspended from the yoke 3, and comprises a rectangular frame 10, cross-bars or plates 11 and 12 slidable in the frame, and springs 13 be-- tween the plates and the inner sides of theframe. it will be seen that the outer ends of the plates 11 are forked: at l i, and the other plates, 12, have terminal tongues 15 passing through the forks transversely, the eflect of which construction is to permit the coupling-bar to move in any desired direcion, up, down, or to either side, a limited distance. The holding-plates are held slid ably in the cage, as by ribs 26 engaging the forked plates, the other plates being held I by the forked ones. "The abutment is most conveniently attached directly to the cage, as by a tail-piece 27, but may be otherwise mounted if desired. Normally, as will be evident, the bar is held centrally, and as best shown in Fig. 3. This freedom of movement is made necessary by the fact that the pair of coupling heads when engaged are rigid, and the interlocked pair must swing sidewise when the cars go around curves, and-must yield vertically when cars of different height arecoupled, or when the cars vary vertically, from any other reason. To allow for this swing of the coupling-bar it is rather loosely mounted in the abutment, as shown. Z.

I. The engaging'heads are inclined at 16, and provided with a partially encircling and flared hood 1?, which serves as a bell-mouthed guide for the endofthc' companion coupling- This end is fofnled as a terminal tongue 18, which in con 1mg position enters a socket 159. When so interlocked, as shown in. Fig. 2, the parts are brought to exact position, and the packing-rings at the air terminals are brought snugly and properly together. Ordinarily they will so remain until the cars are uncoupled, with no other aid than the end pressure of the springs 5, but to guard against contingencies provision is made for locking them in this position. A simple device for this purpose is a latch or hook 21 pivoted on each coupler-bar at 22, and engaging a notch 23 in the tongue of the companion coupling. In coupling, the respective heads are pushed back considerably', as shown in Fig. 1, correspondingly compressing the springs 5. This alldws for the use of a slack chain 24; connccting with an arm 25 of the hook and some fixed part, as the cage, to disengage the hook when the cars are uncoupled, in a manner so simple as to require no description.

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the part of either to act Would not necessarily create a leak of air at the joint.

To the rear end of the coupling-bar is 'at tached a section of air-hose, the opposite end of which is suppbsed to connect similarly With anothercouplingat the other end of the car.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim: 1. An air-brake coupling, comprising a centrally tubular body adapted'to connect at its inner end With an air-hose, a sideWise and vertically yieldingmounting therefor permitting endWise slide of said body, a spring cooperating with the coupling body to force it outwardly, a laterally inclined head with a centrally disposed airhole and a yielding packing therefor, the head being extended to form a straightsided terminal tongue, a bell-mouthed guiding hood terminating in a socket for the tongue of a companion head, and means to prevent the axial turning of said head.

centrally disposed 2. An air-brake coupling, comprising a centrally tubular body adapted to connect at its inner end with an air-hose, a yielding mounting therefor permitting the body to move endwise a limited distance, means adapted to prevent its turning axially, a spring cooperating with the body to force it outwardly, a laterally inclined head with a air-hole and yielding packing therefor, the head being extended toform a straight-sided tongue, a flaring hood terminating in a tongue-receiving socket, a latch engaging the tongue when in coupled position, and a slack chain connecting the latch With some fixed portion of the apparatus, and operating to release the latch by the take-up of the slack.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of tWo witnesses.

ORSON F. KIRKPATRICK. lVitnesses:

J. M. ST. J oHN, MARY DUNLAP.

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